The Three Lazy Ones  三个懒汉

A king had three sons whom he loved equally well， and he did not know which of them to appoint as king following his own death.

一个国王有三个儿子，他同样爱着他们，他不知道在他自己死后该任命谁为国王。When the time came for him to die he called them to his bed and said， “Dear children， I have thought of something that I will reveal to you. The one of you is the laziest shall become king after me.”

到了他死的时候，他把他们叫到床上说：“亲爱的孩子们，我想到了一些要告诉你们的事情。你们中最懒的一个，必跟随我作王。The oldest one said， “Father， then the kingdom belongs to me， for I am so lazy that whenever I lie down to sleep， and a drop falls into my eyes， I will not even close them so that I can fall asleep.”

最大的一个说：“父啊，那国是属于我的，因为我很懒，每当躺下睡觉，有一滴落进我的眼睛，我甚至不闭上睡着。”The second one said， “Father， the kingdom belongs to me， for I am so lazy that when I am sitting by the fire warming myself， I would rather let my heels burn up than to pull my legs back.”

第二个说：“父，王国属于我，因为我很懒，坐在火炉边取暖，我宁愿脚跟烧，也不愿把腿往后拉。”The third one said， “Father， the kingdom is mine， for I am so lazy that if I were going to be hanged and already had the rope around my neck， and someone put into my hand a sharp knife with which to cut the rope， I would let myself be hanged rather than to lift my hand up to the rope.”

第三个说：“父亲，王国是我的，因为我很懒，如果我要被绞死，绳子在我的脖子上，有人把我的手一把锋利的刀割绳子，我将让自己被吊死而不是提起我的手的绳子。”When the father heard this he said， “You have taken it the farthest and shall be king.”

父亲听见这话说：“你走得最远，必作王。”